Promise of a Lifetime
by Music 21
Summary: Kakashi makes a promise of a lifetime. But will he be able to keep it, now that somebody else is waiting for him? Kakashi POV.
1. Tragedy

Chapter 1: Tragedy

_Cold_. That's what I feel right now. Even though these thick bed sheets have covered most of my torso, the chilling air from the fuzzy atmosphere of my dark room radiates into my body completely. I'm consciously freezing to death.

I tried to reach for the corner of the blanket when suddenly I feel something..._wet_? I raised my eyebrow. But this is no ordinary liquid. I can feel it. As my hand divulges for the wet surface of my bed, I realized what this was. _Tears. _Tears from the painful memory of a tragic loss. I have been crying the whole night, as I remember clearly. We ninjas are not supposed to express any sudden emotion, and I'm exceptionally skilled at that, but as my mind forms an image of her everytime, I don't think this rule will work.

Everything came back into memory now. I wanted to forget every bit of it, but my mind's still stuck into the vague pieces of our imperfect forever. I rose from the bed, knowing that I still have work to do. My vest was on the floor. I wonder how it got there. I forgot.

I walked to pick it up, but a flash of vague memory hit right through my head.

"_KAKASHI!" I can hear loud footsteps running towards me. I was lying half-unconsciously on the ground. I tried to raise my hand to form a help signal, but every muscle in my body feels numb. Pain is overpowering me._

"_Kakashi-sensei, who did this!?" I can barely move my lips, but she hurriedly opened her pouch, realizing that it's hard for me to speak._

"_Don't move." She said, but she knew I couldn't do that either. She used her left hand to wipe the sweat from her face when she used the other to grab something from her pouch._

"_Kakashi-sensei, you're gonna make it. Don't close your eyes, you're gonna be- DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!" _

_But it's too late now. I'm using my final sheer force to prevent my eyelids from closing, but after a short second, I can feel my heartbeat coming to a close. I didn't even get the chance to take a clear look at my rescuer, nor even thank her for her failed attempt to save me. Although her voice sounds familiar, I can't clearly identify who she was because of my bleeding right ear. I didn't even have the chance to thank Obito and Rin for the last time._

_I can feel it now. My heart was trembling in terror. Death's welcoming arms are surrounding me._

_This is the end…_

But then, why am I still here? I wondered.

Was there some part of my past that I forgot to recall? I tried my best to put all the pieces together, but I just can't complete the puzzle. This one missing piece is the answer to my doubts. It will help me find out how I had my second life.

This final important piece of memory seems so hard to capture. It is bothering me. As if my mind was lost in a bewildering, fuzzy dream.

I checked my body for some scars and bruises, but I found none. Then it leaves me to one last thought: Was it all just a dream that I miraculously remembered? Then why were those tears on my bed in the first place?

"Nonsense." I spoke for the first time. I should have been in the mission room already, if it wasn't for that silly, detailed dream. I don't know where those tears came from, but I won't bother looking for the answer anymore. Finally, I got hold of my vest and put it back in without hesitation, knowing it's best not to wash it today.

Without taking a final short look around my room, I formed a quick hand sign and vanished in a cloud of fluffy smoke.

My feet landed on the wooden floor of the mission room. The room is a bit tidier today. I wonder who cleaned here.

I moved closer and closer to the mission room desk until something sparked up in my mind. I'm getting dizzy. I can feel something returning to my memory.

_My eyes opened, albeit weakly. I can move again. My arms and legs are back to normal. But how? Is this some sort of a miracle? I check for my scars and burns. I can't see them, nor feel them. Who did all of this?_

"_Kakashi-sensei." I can hear her. My head shifted downward to see a girl lying feebly on the ground. Wait a minute. I know her._

"_Mifune-sensei. What happened to you?" _

"_Come closer" I didn't hesitate already. I was near her now. I can feel the warmth radiating on her body even though she's already too weak. Her body. There were too many scars and bruises. I think I'm getting the picture now._

"_You healed me."_

"_Yes."_

"_And you transferred all of my injuries to your body using your bloodline jutsu."_

"_Exactly."_

"_But you're dying."_

_She gave a small nod. "Stay close to me."_

"_Always."_

_For the first time today I met her eyes. They were bright green. Looking at her eyes have never made me feel better than this before._

"_Why did you do all of these?"_

"_Because I love you, Kakashi-sensei."_

_She was still able to confess her feelings for me even if I can feel death coming closer already. She sacrificed everything…for me. Obito…Rin… I missed them so much. And Mifune reminds me of them. _

_But she was different. To protect the one you love even if it costs you your own life.. She did it.. But why, all of others, me? Am I worthy of her love? _

_To be loved by someone.. _

_Suddenly, after a few years of hiding my innermost emotions, tears fell down slowly to the ground. It must be raining. But there's no point of lying to myself anymore. I can't simply pretend that I'm crying. My heart is suffering from the pain of a great loss but at the same time beating unconsciously because of her. _

_Is she..the one?_

_I guess I'll have to find out._

"_I love you."_

_And after saying it, I saw Mifune crying too, but not in pain, but in joy._

"_Thank you Kakashi-sensei for accepting my love". She smiled. I've never made someone so much happy like this in the past few years. I feel overwhelmed. _

"_I can still take you to the hospital. My student is a good healer. I can even bring her-_

_She grabbed my arm._

_Finally, just by looking at her beautiful face, I found her only response._

"_Kakashi-sensei." I gazed at her. Who could turn away from a beautiful face like hers?_

"_Yes?" That was all I could say right now._

"_Promise me, that you'll never find another girl to love. Promise me, that once I die, and after you wake up in the morning, you'll never love the first person you'll meet. Promise me that your love for me will last forever and it is bound for nobody else but me, just like what I did for you when I first met you."_

_I was lost for words. She's asking for me to say 'yes'. But if I do, will all of it be worth it? Do I truly deserve this kind of promise? The real question is, can I truly keep something that's far from me, forever?_

_I remembered my promise to Obito. I haven't moved on from that yet. I failed him. It was the greatest mistake of my life. But I learned new things from it. My past made be better. I am who I am now because of what I've done before. _

_But this time, somebody is asking for me to keep another promise. Will I be able to keep it?_

"_I promise."_

_Leaves were falling slowly. I can see her smiling. Mifune…_

After those final words my vision went to normal again. I was on the floor, well, I was sitting on it. I fell when I tried to remember everything. But I do remember now. The answers to my doubts are finally found, but were they enough? Are they enough to prove that this was not a dream? She's gone, but my promise that I kept for her is still lingering. Once I wake up, I'll never love the first person I''ll meet. But I haven't seen anyone today yet, haven't I?

"Kakashi-sensei?" A hand reaches for me. I grabbed it and I stood up from the floor.

"What in the world are you doing on the floor?"

As I turn my face up, I saw a person standing in front of me, talking while still holding my rough hand.

_Umino Iruka._

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_Did you like it? Hate it? Feel free to review!_


	2. Author's Note

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! It's been a while since I last uploaded my first chapter of this story (7 months I guess). I kinda lost inspiration in writing this story for the past few months but now I'm eager and ready to make another chapter (which is almost done). I hope you guys will still be looking forward to reading it even if it took you that long to wait. And don't forget to write a review on the story! The more reviews it receives, the faster I upload more chapters. So go! :D


	3. Mission

**A.N. **

**Sorry for the very long wait!**

**There might be some grammatical errors in this chapter but I got tired and sleepy so I didn't bother checking it again and again. I hope you can bear with the small mistakes. Well enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 2: Mission

"Kakashi-sensei, are you going to stand up or not?"

His calm, light-hearted voice that vibrated through my ears made me regain my senses. I've been wondering a lot for the past few minutes. I can't go on like this. I need to get a grip of myself.

His hand was still touching mine. It felt warm.

"I would but if you want to hold my hand like this forever then I won't mind, sensei." I spoke bluntly, my eyes forming an inverted U-shape. I don't want anyone to worry about me right now. I have to act like the normal me.

"I. Um. Well. You see." Iruka sounded like he was stuttering. After a brief moment of silence, he finally let go of my hand and turned around sideways with a smile between his scarlet cheeks.

He's… blushing?

Iruka walked back to his desk while I got on my knees and stood up from the hard floor. He buried his face on the surface of his desk. He looked somewhat depressed. Then he finally looked up at me. We were both looking at each other's eyes. It's weird to think that I'm fascinated in his light brown eyes. They look stunning.. and _familiar. _

"Is there something wrong, Iruka-sensei?"

"I should be asking you that question."

Of course. Anybody who found someone sitting on the floor with a pale and startled look on his face should leave them worrying.

"I was daydreaming."

"On the floor?"

I didn't respond. Instead, I gave him a warm smile to ease his doubts. It's not like anyone can see through my mask. But I smiled anyway.

Iruka smiled too, although it was a weak one. There's gotta be something wrong with him. But I won't bother asking anymore. It might worry him further.

I came closer to his desk in the right side of the mission room. My hand slid inside my vest to get my mission desk report. It felt odd that I placed it inside here. After a minute of touching and scanning everything inside my vest- which sounded horribly wrong- I came to realize. I forgot to make my mission report. I arrived in my apartment unconsciously after my last mission. Which one was it again?

_Oh.._

My eyes looked at Iruka's. He was staring at me the whole time like I was some idiot in front of him.

"Having trouble sensei?" Iruka asked, looking concerned with my confused look on my face.

"I forgot to write my report."

"Well that's okay. There's nothing to worry about it. You can make it on the table over there (he pointed on the small brown table that was a couple of feet away from his desk) and I'll wait here 'til you finish it, okay?"

I nodded. But it wasn't my problem. I forgot about every memory that went to my mind ever since I woke up on my bed. It's like I got distracted by Iruka here. I don't blame him though.

It took a couple of steps for me to reach the table and started making my report. But what am I going to write on it? Was it successful? Did I fail? As I remember clearly, I was tasked to stop a criminal from destroying an entire village. Then I got wounded badly from the mission. Then there was Mifune.

And the promise.

Pushing off all the distractions away, I tried to remember more about my previous mission but I can't seem to connect all the possible thoughts.

If I have to know everything about my mission again then there's only one person who could help me.

No. It's not Iruka.

I stood up, and started to head outside when Iruka's voice snapped before me.

"Where are you going? Did you finish it already?"

"Maaa, sensei. I'm sorry, but I need to go out. This mission has some data that I'm having trouble with."

"What? Oh. Okay. But be sure to come back here as soon as possible!" Iruka said. There was a hint of disappointment in his face, like he was upset about something.

I gave him a quick smile and rushed my way out of the door.

_It was odd. I can't remember everything about what happened. My memories just drifted away from my head like someone did a technique to me. And out of all the things that I went through with my last mission, the only one that I was able to recall was the part when Mifune saved me from my own death. And then I thought about her. I love her. And I made my promise. And I thought about the person I first saw when I woke up. _

_Iruka._

I reached my destination.

I knocked on the door several times until someone hurried to open it for me. It was Shizune.

"Kakashi-sensei! I didn't expect you to be back from your mission!" She looked surprised.

"I need to speak to Tsunade-sama." I said.

She shot me with a confusing look. The look on her face told me that she was curious about why I arrived very early from my mission. Well, I wondered about it too. That makes two of us now.

Without hesitating, she stepped away from the doorstep and I walked closer to the Fifth Hokage's table. Tsunade-sama looked serious today. Her eyes narrowed as I stood a few feet from her table.

"Is there anything I could help you with Kakashi?"

Guess she didn't wonder about my early arrival.

"I want to know something about the mission."

"Go ahead."

I told her everything that I remembered. My mission. The wanted criminal. Those horrible wounds on my body. Mifune. The way she saved me. My forgotten memories.

I didn't tell her about my promise though, because I thought it wasn't important for the mission.

After telling her everything that I needed to say, I looked around the room. Shizune was gone. Maybe she thought that this conversation was confidential.

Then my eyes were fixed on Tsunade-sama's. I waited for her to say something.

"But Kakashi."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"There's no one named Mifune in the village."

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**Some of you might have noticed that I changed Iruka's eyes. In the original series I think they're actually black but I changed them to light brown. :3**

**Did the chapter leave you confused? lol**

**Your thoughts so far? Go ahead and review! The more reviews the faster I upload the new chapter. **


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